Chopper snag takes Rajnath Singh close to locals

Earlier, Rajnath Singh addressed a rally saying that he had the responsibility of the party’s entire election campaign in Chhattisgarh in 2003, when the BJP came to power in the state for the first time.

Rajnath Singh told the crowd that he did not want to miss this rally since it was an ode to the debutante BJP candidate Harshita Pandey’s late father and former MLA, Manharlal Pandey, whom he knew well.

On the last day of campaigning in Chhattisgarh, Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s chopper suffered a technical snag after a rally at Kanjura village in Lailunga. He immediately walked to a stall, held a chaupal with villagers and obliged many with selfies.

Singh lapped up the opportunity to get closer to voters even after long hours of campaigning, with this correspondent in tow.

Earlier, he told them from the podium that he had the responsibility of the party’s entire election campaign in Chhattisgarh in 2003, when the BJP came to power in the state for the first time. “All experts said we won’t win. But we did. If anyone had seen the state 15 years ago, and sees it now, he will know the difference,” Singh said, asking people not to vote for the alliance between Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.

Singh concluded his speech saying, “Maine kabhi janta ki ankhon mein dhool jhonk ke rajneeti nahin ki hai, balki janta ki ankh se ankh mila kar rajneeti ki hai (I have never resorted to politics of befooling people, rather I have done politics by looking people in the eye).” He asked people not to clap if they did not approve of his claims.

He promised them that he would ask chief minister Raman Singh to give free cycles and scooties to boys too. The local candidate turned emotional as Singh was about to leave, telling him virtually in tears that his visit would make sure he wins and that Singh’s words would run like a current in the area.

“There is no seat in Chhattisgarh that I have not been to,” Singh told ET, asserting that Raman Singh’s record as CM on development was among the best. "The best part is he has no hint of arrogance or anger. He works like a sevak (servant) and not a shasak (ruler),” Singh told the gathering at his next meeting in Dharamjaygarh, to which we drove for almost an hour.

With the clock ticking for his last rally at Takhatpur before the model code of conduct would kick in at 5 pm, a replacement chopper flew us there from Dharamjaygarh to the biggest crowd of the day of about 15,000 people awaiting Singh.

Singh told the crowd that he did not want to miss this rally since it was an ode to the debutante BJP candidate Harshita Pandey’s late father and former MLA, Manharlal Pandey, whom he knew well. “This is my last election rally in the state – so you must make Harshita win,” Singh appealed to the crowd.